Legacies - There's A Place Where Lost Things Go

Discussing Ep. 2.14

Well, after about a month of a hiatus that made me wonder if this show was ever going to return, we finally did return and have now been introduced to the new Big Bad.

Can't complain about this because this is what I've been asking for. And I think it's a good move. Plus, I love this look. Being a Tim Burton/Addams Family fan, this look is very Lydia Deetz or Wednesday Addams. So I like it a lot and am glad Josie will be running with it for a little while.

Plus, she appears to be super powerful and that's good, as you don't want to make it easy for Hope and the gang to overcome this particular Big Bad. It's obvious that they're taking a leaf out of the Buffy playbook, replicating the Dark Willow story arc, right down to the veins and the dark eyes.

So my question is...how are they going to make it different? In Buffy, they couldn't fight her magic with magic because Dark Willow was so powerful, so they had to rely on Xander, of all people, to reach that core of Willow that was still good in order for her to break free of the darkness herself. Are they going to do the same here with Dark Josie? The fact of the matter is, they won't be able to live up to the original redemption arc of Dark Willow. Willow went dark after her lover got killed (and I still remember the way Dark Willow got her revenge, essentially ripping off all the skin off the guy who killed Tara). They built up that relationship between Xander and Willow for years before they had this moment between them, where it could only be Xander who could save Willow in the end, and this moment was VERY powerful!

I can't see them doing the same with Lizzie being the "saviour" because they've sort of already had those sister-to-sister moments where Lizzie has admitted that she's selfish and has not been a very good sister. So who will they get to do it? I really hope it won't be Jade. She's a new character and even though they've practically rushed Jade and Josie to the altar, there is no connection there other than a superficial attraction. So who could they get?

You would think that it would be Hope, but she too doesn't have that deep connection with Josie that would make anyone believe that Hope could reach that core that would allow her to overcome the darkness within her. It's sad to say, but I don't have a lot of faith in the writers being able to bring this story arc to a satisfying conclusion. However, they have surprised me in the past so I won't lose hope (no pun intended) so quickly. After all, they surprised me with this episode.

I was actually worried that this episode was going to come off as too corny, and that they were going to pepper the episode with popular catch phrases and dialogue from 1940's era films like Casablanca. I was fully expecting MG or even Landon (who was suspiciously absent this episode....he's working on his flying?) to start talking like Humphrey Bogart and spurt out lines like "Here's lookin' at you, kid!" and "Franky, my dear, I don't give a damn!" But they didn't do that. For the most part, it was all played less for laughs and more for a whodunnit kind of atmosphere, and I feel like it worked pretty well. Also, I feel like there were some actors who, had they been born in that era, could have worked quite well in a black and white film, with Lizzie, Josie and Hope being among them.

Some elements of the episode confused me. Seeing Vardemus again, while a pleasant treat, felt very arbitrary. The fact that Emma had a box that Vardemus himself created, basing it off the Chambre de Chasse (a nod to TO), only for Vardemus himself to show up in a locker....where he has been locked up this whole time? I didn't get this at all and that's why it felt like they made this up as they went along JUST so they could get Alexis Denisof to reprise his role as Vardemus again. Mind you, I like Alexis and I welcome his return, but have it make sense for crying out loud! When did Clarke lock him up? How long has Vardemus been in that locker? While I suppose it feels like forever and a day since we saw Clarke on the show, in Legacies time it must have been at least a few weeks. It had to have been more than just a couple of days! So Vardemus was there for weeks? Makes no sense whatsoever. The one thing that I do hope for is that, with the exit of Emma and Dorian (which I'll get to later), that Vardemus will stay on and perhaps work with Alaric. We don't necessarily know if THIS Vardemus will be as antagonistic as the Clarke Vardemus was with Alaric. But I do hope he sticks around.

Also, in regards to Hope. Again, she felt very much like a background character. Even though she came to the rescue at the end (and it felt very obvious that she would), I really didn't get her story arc throughout this episode. Her talk at the end with Raf, saying how she realizes that there will always be an obstacle between her and Landon, didn't make much sense. She made it sound like she was alone in her experience, like it was the hand of Fate or the Universe or something that was actively working against her and Landon being together and that's just bullshit! For crying out loud, talk to Bonnie, to Stefan, to Klaus, to Elijah,....to anyone from the TVD/TO universe who fell in love with someone and didn't get their happily-ever-after. I feel like she's trying to build up the troubles between her and Landon as being something cosmic rather than something pedestrian. I suppose I liked that they were sort of trying to build on Hope's abandonment issues, but you can't develop that with one episode! We were TOLD she has abandonment issues....we haven't really been SHOWN them! Either way, she really feels far from being the star of the show, and maybe that's their intent although it's somewhat confusing considering Legacies was a spin off of The Originals BECAUSE of Hope Mikaelson!

I also don't get having Emma return, only to have her leave again for the most ridiculous of reasons. She and Dorian are getting the fuck out of dodge because they're scared? Because they can't hack the dangers anymore? Because she feels incompetent and guilty after what happened with Vardemus's box? I could see if perhaps Emma was pregnant with Dorian's kid and therefore felt like she needed to protect her baby from the threats that seem to plague the school. But for her and Dorian to just up and leave because it's too dangerous and leave Alaric hanging, having to deal with all the threats all by himself? That's just fucking selfish and cowardly if not incredibly irresponsible! Emma herself stated that she's well aware of the dangers that are going on at the school and the threats that are arising. So....she's not going to do her part to help? She felt like she was abandoning Alaric and that's because she is! And how selfish of Dorian to 1) abandon Alaric yet again (Alaric has to be used to it by now), and 2) not even say goodbye in person! Seriously, I hope we never see these two hacks on the show because they aren't good friends or good characters. Good riddance!

I was somewhat impressed with MG throughout the episode, as it seemed like it was the actor's time to shine. However, my admiration lies on a very thin edge right now. At the end, when Lizzie comes by and fully admits that she only pays any attention to him when she feels like crap and her self esteem is low, she offers that perhaps her attitude needs to change and that she needs to treat him better than that. Then MG, being the forever "nice guy" that he is, says that he doesn't want anything to change. What?!? What kind of response was that? Look, if he's comfortable being consigned to the Friend Zone with Lizzie, then all power to him. At least he accepts his fate in that regard. But I don't want to ever....EVER.....hear MG even hint at any kind of lust or attraction or a longing for Lizzie in any way, shape or form from now on. I want it that this episode was the last time that MG felt anything romantic for Lizzie because, after this acceptance of being a doormat on his part, he doesn't deserve to be with Lizzie!

And as for the other revelation, with Ted The Necromancer making an obscure appearance, I will say I'm somewhat intrigued. What did Ted do to Raf? How did he get to him and how did he make an appearance in that simulated world? It almost felt Pennywise-esque the way Ted showed up in that photo. Kind of creepy. So some questions I have are: what is Ted's ultimate plan? How does Dark Josie and Raf fit into all of that? Will Dark Josie submit to Ted or she going to go her own way? And if she does go her own way, what is her ultimate goal? I get the feeling that Hope and Landon and Raf will be handling The Necromancer threat while Lizzie, MG and Alaric will handle Josie. That's how I see all this breaking down.